Chiu Hoi Shan Clarissa. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-126). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract in English --- p.i / Abstract in Chinese --- p.iii / Acknowledgement --- p.iv / List of Abbreviations --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.vi / List of Figures --- p.viii / Introduction and Objectives / Hepatocellular Carcinoma / Epidemiology --- p.1 / Sex and Age --- p.1 / Geographic distibution --- p.2 / Risk factors of HCC --- p.2 / Mortality from liver cancer --- p.4 / Treatment for HCC --- p.4 / Tumor markers --- p.5 / Alpha-fetoprotein / Structure --- p.5 / Physiological Functions of AFP --- p.7 / Re-expression of AFP in Adult --- p.7 / Re-expression of AFP in HCC --- p.8 / Isoforms of AFP --- p.8 / Specific AFP isoform in HCC --- p.9 / Sialic Acid --- p.11 / Sialyltransferase / "Galβ 1,4GlcnAc α2,6-sialyitransferase" --- p.12 / "Characterization of ST2,6Gal I" --- p.12 / "Expression of ST2,6Gal I" --- p.12 / "General features of ST2,6Gal I Activity" --- p.15 / Relationship Between AFP isoforms and ST2，6Gal in Fetal Mouse Model --- p.15 / "Change in ST2,6GaI I Activity in Transgenic Mouse Models of HCC" --- p.16 / "Study of Activity of ST2,6Gal I in Colon Carcinoma" --- p.16 / Objective of the Project --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Formation of Monosialyated AFP by Hepatoma Cells / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.21 / Chapter 1.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.23 / Chapter 1.3 --- Results / Chapter 1.3.1 --- AFP obtained from cell culture --- p.34 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- IEF for AFP in cell culture medium --- p.34 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- SDS-PAGE analysis of AFP --- p.34 / Chapter 1.3.4 --- Stability of AFP isoforms after secreted to cell culture medium --- p.39 / Chapter 1.3.5 --- Comparison of the AFP isoforms between liver tissues and serum --- p.38 / Chapter 1.4 --- Discussion / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Origin of the extracellular msAFP - in vitro Model --- p.43 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Origin of circulating msAFP - in vivo Model --- p.44 / Chapter 1.5 --- Conclusion --- p.46 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "Presence of msAFP in the serum of HCC patient is a Consequence of Decrease in the Activity of ST2, / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.47 / Chapter 2.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.49 / Chapter 2.3 --- Results / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Semi-quantitation of msAFP --- p.61 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Evaluation of the ST2，6Gal I Assay --- p.65 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- "Measurements and comparisons of the activity of ST2,6Gal I in non-tumor and tumor tissue" --- p.65 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- "Evaluation of the RT-PCR ELISA for semi-quantitation and comparisons of ST2,6Gal I mRNA levels" --- p.75 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- "Semi-quantitation and comparisons of ST2,6Gal I mRNA levels in the non-tumor and tumor tissues" --- p.84 / Chapter 2.3.6 --- Correlations between the markers --- p.87 / Chapter 2.4 --- Discussion / Chapter 2.4.1 --- "Overproduction of AFP, a possible cause for increased msAFP formation" --- p.99 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- "Decrease of ST2,Gal I activity, a possible cause for increased msAFP formation" --- p.100 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- "ST2,6Gal I activity in tumor is not regulated at transcriptional level" --- p.102 / General Discussion / Origin of blood stream msAFP --- p.103 / Physiological Mechanism for the formation of msAFP in HCC --- p.104 / Regulation of ST2，6Gal I activity in HCC --- p.105 / "Comparison between the ST2,6GaI I activities in human HCC and Colon Cancer" --- p.107 / Conclusion and Future studies / Conclusion --- p.108 / Future studies --- p.109 / References --- p.110